Between social and economic agendas: Striking a balance in Portland

All of us are aware of the serious issues that Oregon and Portland face in unemployment, hunger, education, tax policy and many other areas.

It is also important to note the degree to which the business communities in Oregon and Portland are socially responsible and do participate actively and heavily in helping to improve the lives of those who need assistance.

Oregon has consistently ranked between 15th and 20th nationally in terms of per capita giving.

But in eastern Oregon, where I'm from, we have a saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and as trite as it may sound to you, there is a lot of truth in it.

For example, take our efforts to improve higher education. We still have serious issues with high school graduation rates and college dropout rates, and we need to ask ourselves about our apparent bias toward providing all young adults a college education. Are we trying to form an elite class of people who are only qualified to be social workers, medical aides, sociologists, teachers, lawyers, investment bankers, business managers, software developers, architects, advertising directors, insurance and real estate workers, and film producers? How many of those skills do we really need? What happens when there are not enough of those jobs to go around, and nobody wants to do whatever is left, or doesn't have the skills or work ethic to do it?

There used to be a home for young adults like this in manufacturing and distribution, transportation, logging, agriculture and mining. I believe there still is, but much of that is slipping away for structural reasons, and because we are driving it away. Oregon and America are not being abandoned by the manufacturing sector -- Oregon and America are abandoning the manufacturing sector by failing to support it and adequately understand it.

We need to adjust expectations and provide technical training to those kids who do not take to the college dream so they can run an automated production machine, or fix an electrical circuit, or become a plumber, or draft on a computer the prints to build something. We need to do something to motivate and educate ourselves, and them, that these are worthy things

A healthy economy and robust job market need to be part of Portland's equation. We need to create not only a bold, livable and attractive community for all our citizens, but we need to sustain the economic base that will provide the means to fund and manage a progressive social agenda.

We may have become "out of balance" under the city's current leadership. Some examples: an increasingly unfriendly policy toward automobiles in the downtown, increasing water bureau rates, diversion of water revenues to ancillary social funding, and a breakdown in the permitting process. We need look no further than the downtown encampment of Occupy Portland, which is breaking the law every day and disrupting our parks, public safety and the daily business of the city, while the rest of Portland is required to respect the laws.

Are we going a little too far, with an additional $500 million for bike lanes on top of an already healthy program of providing for bikes?

What about Portland's misguided River Plan, which initially called for a set-aside from industrial land of 15 percent of that land, breaking the promises to industrial sanctuary and working waterfront tenants, dating back to the days of Tom McCall?

Now those promises are under siege at a time when the working waterfront is faced with a costly Superfund process. The Willamette is already highly regulated, by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Army Corps of Engineers. The city rather disingenuously sought to further regulate the river for "environmental" and "livability" quality at a time of economic crisis, when in fact the city itself has been one of the leading polluters of the 11 miles under study. This is a direct insult and threat to the 40,000 family wage jobs on the Willamette working waterfront.

Is it possible there is a missing link about jobs and how they are created, and what measures are effective? Is it possible that a progressive agenda and jobs policy are just not reconcilable? I don't think so, but the answer probably is, "it depends." It depends on who is elected, it depends on what the real vision of those candidates might be for our city, whether they really have a vision and whether that vision is really balanced and if they really mean the things they are saying.

Do they know what needs to be done, how to do it, and can they execute on their promises?

It also depends on whether we in the business community can set a path to audit their performance and hold them accountable for their promises.

Consider how effective Portland is at balancing two important goals: livability, social services and sustainability on the one hand, and on the other hand, economic sustainability.

If it is true that Portland is a progressive city, and that only progressive candidates who believe in righting social injustice can be elected, then how is that all balanced today by the also-essential economic question of how to create economic prosperity and the means to pay for our social services?

If city leadership cannot or will not provide sound economic leadership, then we should provide it. Moreover, we should take the lead to persuade Portland's voters that this is not only necessary, it is imperative. To paraphrase our candidates, sustainability and economics do not have to be at odds. But, right now I believe they are not in balance, and we need to do something about it. I hope a new City Commission will do so.

This article is adapted from a speech by Bill Furman, president and CEO of The Greenbrier Companies, of Lake Oswego.